Indian designers have much influence in West: Campbell

Mumbai, March 30: British supermodel Naomi Campbell, who is quite fascinated with the Saree she wore while walking the Indian ramp for the first time at Lakme India Fashion Week 2009, feels Indian designers have much influence in the West. "There are so many (favourite Indian designers). There`s so much influence on the Western world of your Indian designs," Campbell, draped in the six-yard-long apparel designed by Sabyasachi Mukherjee, told reporters here.

"I just love the Saree. I think its elegant. I`ve worn it for a music video before...It`s just that everytime that I`ve been to India, I`ve always liked to wear the traditional authentic clothes," Campbell said. The 38-year-old diva, who was in Mumbai to raise money for bettering the city`s emergency services infrastructure, said, "A lot of lives were lost in Mumbai`s terror attacks due to lack of ambulances." The initiative "Mai Mumbai" was led by New York-based hotelier Vikram Chatwal and Fern Mallis, Vice President of IMG, which is also Campbell`s agency. Through `Mai Mumbai`, the supermodel brought her philanthropic initiative - "Fashion for Relief" - to India, which had raised over a million dollars in 2005 at the New York Fashion Week for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. "I wanted to do something to help. In fashion, everyone thinks that we never do enough. Many lives have been lost, many families have been hurt (in the terror attacks). They are picking up the pieces and we just want them to know that we are thinking about them and haven`t forgotten them," Campbell said. "Mai Mumbai", the charity fashion show had the `creme de la creme` of the Indian and international fashion fraternity design clothes for an auction. "Everything on the runway is for sale. This is my first `Fashion for Relief` show in India, an initiative which I started four years back. I hope to come back and do more shows," she said. Campbell and Chatwal handed over a cheque worth Rs 10 lakh to Teesta Setalvad, who helms an NGO called Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP). She said India is a country that has always been able to survive. "You are very resilient hardworking people, and I have a lot of respect for that," she added. Bureau Report